Spokane company works with union for success

For more than 40 years, managers at Pacific Power Products in Spokane have worked closely with employees represented by the Machinists Union.

This partnership has allowed the company’s managers to build a strong base of customers who want their heavy trucks and semi’s serviced by an experienced workforce, said John Dill, a Machinists Union Local Lodge 86 member who is a steward at the shop.

Long-service workers are the key, Dill said. “Very few people leave because we treat each other very decent here. You get a fair wage, and it’s in general a pretty great place to work.”

A profile of Pacific Power Products is one of the stories in the current edition of the Eastern Washington Machinists News, which is now available online.

Also in this edition, you’ll read about:

How Local 86 in Spokane participated in this year’s Bloomsday race, with a booth and a team that won its division in the Bloomsday Corporate Cup;

How fundraising efforts at Locals 86, 1123 and 1951 raised $5,270 for Guide Dogs of America this spring;

A story about officers and members of Machinists Union District Lodge 751 who participated in a Wenatchee rally for family-wage jobs in June;

The union’s political activism, including the participation of members from eastern Washington in recent citizen lobbying efforts with members of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Originally formed in 1935 to represent hourly workers at Boeing in Seattle; District Lodge 751 of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers now represents more than 28,000 workers at 45 employers across Washington, Oregon and California. It has a network of seven local lodges including Local 86 in Spokane, Local 1123 in Wenatchee and Local 1951 in Richland.

To contact a District 751 officer for information on how a union contract could help you, click here.